More than 5 million students in 167 countries are getting at least one hour of computer coding instruction this week as part of Code.org's Hour of Code initiative, an event designed to promote computer science in educational curricula worldwide. Code.org is providing educators with the resources they need to give students an introductory computer science lesson.

Apple has delivered a delightful mix of products and profits this year, all the while facing skepticism from various quarters over its strategies, plans and abilities to take over the world -- especially the part with low-end, cheap markets. Apple also has been caught up in the scrutiny of tech companies that work with various law enforcement agencies to turn over customer data.

Way back in 1993, a little exploratory puzzle mystery game called Myst was released for the Mac. It took off to become one of the best-selling -- and moodiest -- games ever, expanding to a variety of other platforms. The creators followed up with Riven, and now, 20 years after Myst, they are using Kickstarter to launch a new indie-developed game, Obduction.

Onward and upward, or so the executive suite at Apple is clearly hoping. Tuesday's rollout of the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s -- and their related features and design quirks -- came as little surprise to company watchers as Apple's product pipeline has long been prone to leaks and speculation.

Mobile device users' privacy will be safeguarded under a new transparency code of conduct created in an effort involving 40 groups ranging from businesses to advocacy groups and led by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling hailed the code as "a seminal milestone in the efforts to enhance consumer privacy on mobile devices."

Ransomware has made the jump from personal computers to the Android world. Android.FakeAV.C, a new breed of ransomware, has turned up in Asia -- almost half of it in India and Indonesia -- according to an alert by Bitdefender security researcher Liviu Arsene. Mobile ransomware works much like its PC kin. In a PC, a malware program seizes control of a computer and demands a ransom for its release.

Three days after Apple took down its developer website claiming it was performing unscheduled maintenance, the company emailed devs admitting the site had been hacked and some data may have been stolen. It also posted a message on the site stating that some developers' names, mailing addresses and email addresses may have been exposed, but that sensitive information could not be accessed.

The iTunes App Store is one of the most transformative Apple innovations ever, perhaps the most important to the world, and yet, despite its shiny bright flickering light of goodness, it's freakin' evil. I've been reflecting on the 5th anniversary of the App Store, and in some ways, I'm blinded by the staggering numbers and pure joy certain apps have brought to my life.

There was no shortage of news coming out of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference this week, including a glimpse at the next generation of iOS. On the hardware front, meanwhile, the company revealed it will launch a new desktop computer and a refreshed MacBook Air line. Then, of course, there was its new streaming radio application.

When Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off next week in San Francisco, it won't just be application developers watching. While the company speaks to business partners and professionals who use core Apple tools every day, the rest of the Apple enthusiast world will be paying close attention. What will Apple reveal? A new iWatch? The next iPhone? No and no.

The owner of the iPhoneDevSDK website involved in a major Java hacking incident has given his side of the story, saying a single compromised administrator account was the cause of internal computers at Apple and Facebook being infected after their users visited the site.

Of the 300 million-plus people using iOS 6 in one form or another -- and millions more using iOS 5 -- I get the feeling I'm a dying breed. Why? I generally dislike and distrust free apps. I can blame some of this on the overwhelming influence of games, kids, and the psychology of the masses.

The case of the stolen database of Apple device identifiers is getting more intriguing by the day, with an entirely new player -- an app development company called "BlueToad" -- joining the cast of characters. BlueToad execs told reporters that the Apple UDIDs were stolen from it in a cyberattack launched two weeks ago.

Facebook has released a new version of its iOS app, one that the company rebuilt from the ground up using Apple's Xcode integrated development environment. In doing so, it got rid of HTML5, on which the previous version of its iOS app relied. The move to native iOS has sped up the app's performance, Facebook stated.

Facebook announced Tuesday that it is testing a new ad program for mobile apps in a limited beta. The system is aimed at iOS and Android developers who want to grow the audience for their apps, according to Facebook engineer Vijaye Raji. Anyone who clicks on an ad for an app will be sent to the App Store or Google Play to download it, assuming it is not already installed on the device.

Recent reports suggest Apple might be weighing a jump into the online social world. With Facebook and Google bringing in ad revenue and additional exposure from their social networks, the company may be looking to invest in a social startup of its own. Apple is reportedly in talks to purchase The Fancy, a social e-commerce site that has been likened to Pinterest.

A survey of more than 3,600 Appcelerator Titanium developers has revealed that they would rather develop mobile apps for iOS than for Android. iOS led Android by 16 percent in the Appcelerator/IDC Q2 2012 Mobile Developer Report. Fifty-three percent of the respondents believed that iOS was winning in enterprise app development, whereas only 37 percent believed Android was.

Some iOS app developers may need to take a long, hard look at their apps, as rumors about a forthcoming iPad mini continue to gain strength. "Apps custom-coded with Objective C and the Apple SDKs will need to be recompiled and rewritten," said George Adams, cofounder and CEO of ViziApps.

More than 70 iOS apps that were updated on or after July 3 are apparently crashing once they're launched, according to a few angry developers. Customers swamped Marco Arment, the creator of Instapaper, on July 4 with complaints that update 4.2.3 of his app had crashed immediately on launch, minutes after it had been approved by Apple.

Among the highlights at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference was the presentation on Monday of a laundry list of enhancements to be found in iOS 6. The 200-plus new features and functions include Facebook integration, a Maps app that has turn-by-turn navigation and a new Flyover view.

Apple has released its schedule for its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, which will take place in San Francisco next month. The event kicks off with a keynote address on Monday, June 11. The conference is an opportunity for developers to attend workshops and discuss the future of building for iOS and OS X, but in years past it's also been the stage for major company announcements.

The Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 was released Friday on the Greenpois0n website. This is less than a month after iOS 5.1.1 was released, on May 7. With Absinthe 2.0, iPhone users will be able to use the latest version of iOS while keeping the phone open to applications outside Apple's official App Store.